East Lansing man sentenced to federal prison after sexually exploiting 'at least' 8 children

GRAND RAPIDS — An East Lansing man has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting children, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Ian Jason Lipsky, 51, pleaded guilty in December to two counts of sexual exploitation of minors, court records show. Online records had not been updated on Tuesday afternoon, but the U.S. Attorney's Office said Lipsky also was ordered to spend 10 years on supervised release after leaving prison.

The government said Lipsky used various social media platforms to communicate with "at least" eight minor boys between 2013 and 2020, beginning when he lived in California and continuing after he moved to Michigan.

"Lipsky is a serial offender whose sexual exploitation spanned years, from California to Michigan," U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a news release. "Today's sentence ensures he will never harm another child."

It was unclear where the victims lived, but beginning in 2018, after he moved to Okemos, he engaged in sexually explicit chats and persuaded minor boys to send him pornographic pictures and videos, according to his plea agreement.

"Parents, guardians, loved ones, and anyone online must understand that predators are trolling social media," Totten said in the release. "Candid converstions with our kids are so important: educating them about the threats, keepin them out of harm's way, and ensuing they have a safe space to share what happened if they are harmed."

Contact Ken Palmer atkpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj.